Four mile run and one mile walk
Date: June 30, 2012.
Time: 7:30 a.m.
Location: Veterans Memorial Park, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Registration:Register/donate online or by snail mail.
Why we Run
"No one who has served this nation as veterans should ever be living on the streets." VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.
History
In 2009, Veterans Jon Benedict, Janet Stockton-Taylor, and Jerry Bailey were long term supporters of our community’s charitable events. However we had yet to make real a personal goal of ours - to combine our love of running with our desire to support Veterans in need.
On June 3, 2009, after many years of talk, armed with a strong dose of naiveté and many years of volunteering for other races, we committed ourselves to the cause. The dream of having a race on the 4th of July weekend to support veterans was going to be a reality. 31 days later, on July 4th, 2009, Run for Veterans was born. The first year all proceeds went to support transportation costs for veterans attending the National Veterans Wheelchair Games - the largest wheelchair event of its kind in the world.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has made ending homelessness for Veterans his number one priority. So in 2010, with our inaugural run under our belt, emboldened by Shinseki’s determination, and our commitment to our community, we were inspired to take our charity run in a whole new direction - a partnership with the homeless Veterans program at 7hills homeless center. We’re proud to be making a local impact on a national program.
We go into this year's race with one less trooper on the team. Our dear friend and battle buddy, Cindy Cottone, was what we call 'one of the good people'. Cindy was an advocate for children and families, and she never met a cause too tough for her combat boots.
Knowing Cindy, she would give us a little back rub, a hug, and tell us to get those frowns off of our faces - there's work to be done. So yes ma'am, that's just what we're gonna do.
Special thanks go out to Ellen Parker. Her strong commitment and dedication to helping veterans has been an invaluable asset to the success of our race.
